davewerden

These impressions are based on my testing at ITEC 2019. I chose to combine the two horns because they share similarities in manufacturing and are both part of the Eastman/Shires family.

They seemed to share at least some parts, or possibly just design concepts. One I noted is the connector on the front side between valve 1 and 2. On both horns it follows the model of Willson, with more of a rounded-rectangle idea than a smooth curve. You can see it in this photo.

One opportunity I looked forward to when planning my visit to ITEC 2019 was seeing and playing the new Wessex EP600. This is their new, handmade model. My understanding is that the horn is made on a different floor of the Chinese factory, and that the workers building it are trained specifically for this type of work.

As I have often said, patience is a virtue. It proved an asset at ITEC because the EP600 was delayed by a day or two. But I was able to get some time with it the day it
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NOTE 2: Fletcher Mitchell, a euphonium player, gave me permission to use photos from his Facebook page of his Wiseman case. These show much better detail than my original photos. They are at the end of this blog entry, after the comments from Wiseman.

The Wiseman case at ITEC2019 was impressive in many ways but seemed like a work in progress - although a promising work. The case
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